The reader meets Margot Radcliffe at a crossroad in her life. Gorgeous and headstrong, she
wants a place by her father's side to run Rosewood, a first-class horse farm in Virginia. Her father and, more importantly, his new trophy wife, think marriage is a much better idea for Margot. Tempers flare, and Margot leaves her family to become a super-model. A tragedy forces Margo back to the farm and back to face the man she'd rather forget.
I know what you're thinking. Horse book? Syrupy romance? Erotica with hooves? If any of that were true (or offensive), I wouldn't tell you to READ THIS BOOK!
First, the "horse book" genre is populated with young adult and coming of age novels. This book is neither one of those. Yes, there is romance and yes, some steamy sections, but the similarity stops there!
Margot has to do what she can to keep her family's farm solvent. Along with stepping into her father's shoes as farm manager, she has to step up as parent to her half sister. The inner life Moore brings to her characters kept me turning the pages. Bad boy Travis is a treat. Oh, and the terrific descriptions of horse farms and the business of training helped too!
What I loved about this book is what readers don't see a lot of. Each of Moore's characters has a strong moral compass that keeps them on solid footing. Margot has to raise a teenager rattled by grief and determined to be, well, a teen. How Margot deals with her half sister is wonderful mix of love and muddling through the slop of life with only an inner compass to guide her.
Moore's writing is first rate and her story is tightly constructed and readable. Treat yourself and read book one of the Rosewood Trilogy, Remember Me.
Laura was born in and grew up there and in Western
Massachusetts. She received her undergraduate degree and my M.A. in art history.
Since graduate school, Laura has worked as a museum lecturer and has taught art, art
history, and French. She now lives in Rhode Island, where, in
addition to writing, she teaches English at the Rhode Island School of Design--a
great place to share her love of art and fiction.
Join Laura and me at the Equine Affaire in Springfield, Massachusetts, as we discuss how using the essence of the horse helps us write better fiction.
